Throughout history people have struggled to build better societies that are more equitable and just. For the most part, it has been a disappointing endeavor. Few of us today would argue that true social justice or equity exists anywhere in the world, even in the most advanced or successful societies. In developing nations, the problem is far worse.

Now a dynamic new socio–economic model had arisen. It is the first new socio-economic model in almost 200 years. Not since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels created socialism in the early 1800s and not since the founding fathers of America created modern democracy and modern capitalism has a truly new model been offered. It is time for a new socio-economic model that addresses today’s problems and realities instead of those of 200 years ago. That new paradigm is called—Potentialism.

Potentialism is a completely new way of understanding and interpreting the world we live in. It is simultaneously practical and visionary.

First and foremost, Potentialism is about helping people. It is about helping all people in a way they have never been helped before, and, in ways, that are not available anywhere else.

Potentialism shows that all human beings have an enormous latent power—a potential—that is constrained by forces we don’t recognize or understand. Moreover, the constraining forces are structural and systemic. They are part of the world we have inadvertently created.

But, there is a way to overcome these powerful negative influence in our lives. It is a new concept; a vision for life on this planet.

The new social science of Potentialism is promising and hopeful but it is also pragmatic and realistic. It is a connector, linking many social disciplines including economics, politics, history, psychology, business, education, healthcare, sociology, and many other sciences. Moreover, it bridges diverse ideologies, cultures, politics, economics, religions and even histories. It shows the relationship between them. Potentialism has two main parts: Social Potentialism and Economic Potentialism.

Social Potentialism shows:

We all have far more potential than we ever reach.

We are all inhibited from reaching our potential by forces we don’t understand or can’t control.

We can overcome many of our inhibitors and reach much more of our true potential.

These facts are true for all people because we are all the same people.

Modern geneticists have shown that we are all genetically related and we have common ancestors.

Moreover, our commonalities are far greater than our differences.

If we focus on our commonalities, we can overcome our differences, which are superficial and often man-made.

Economic Potentialism shows:

Capitalism and Socialism have failed to equitably provide for humanity or the environment of the singular planet we must live on – Earth.

Economic Potentialism includes the best of each old system, plus much more. It includes the efficiency, creativity, and productivity of capitalism, but it also includes the social conscience and values of socialism that provide for everyone and the environment.

The great psychologist Abraham Maslow showed that our primary requirements in life are essentially economic: food, clothing, and shelter. He also showed that these economics must be satisfied before anything else can be addressed. Maslow created a scale that he called Maslow’s Hierarchy. It showed that human beings pass through different stages of development sequentially and the first stage is economic. Until the economic stage is satisfied, additional stages cannot occur. Until now, economics have been controlled by those that already have money. Economic Potentialism is a new model that gives all people — rich and poor, male and female — a chance to succeed economically. In addition, Economic Potentialism will provide a powerful jump-start for developing nations and an economic blueprint to sustain them. Economic sufficiency around the world is a prerequisite to world peace and to solving our global problems.

The major tenets of Potentialism are personal and can be used immediately to improve and expand our individual lives. In addition, Potentialism is a visionary global concept that can help provide a new and brighter future for all humanity.

Potentialism is not a new religion or a new ideology; not even a new philosophy. Instead, it is something more than all of these. It is a whole new way of understanding what it means to be human. It is a new way of understanding our true potential and what that potential can produce when it is freed from the strictures that currently shackle it.

Unlike new religions, new ideologies, or new philosophies, Potentialism does not divide people; does not cleave humanity along social class lines; does not distinguish people by ethnicity; does not accept gender bias; does not promote national aggrandizement; and above all, does not promote hate of any kind.

Instead, Potentialism is a truly holistic concept that embraces all of humanity and offers a chance for everyone to succeed and fulfill their true human potential.

Potentialism is a unifying and pragmatic new vision for us individually and collectively—a new operating system for the future of planet Earth.